I Read Until Dawn… Con

Well, Reading Until Dawn Con has come, and gone. Amidst the whirlwind of booze, book talk, booze, games, booze, more book talk, and let’s not forget the booze that was RUDC17, I even managed to keep my pants on. Though, if I’m being honest, I didn’t start with pants, so that might have had something to do with it.

Just as I did for RUDC‘s inaugural year, I left exhausted in the most wonderful way. On Sunday, while I rested Pickles and reflected on what it is that makes RUDC so special– Pickles is my liver– it occurred to me that the thing I enjoy most isn’t the swag, the games, or even the copious amounts of alcohol, it’s being in the space of people like me. People who love words and escaping to other worlds as much as I do. People who understand what I mean when I talk about the voices in my head. (Don’t worry, they don’t talk to me, just each other). People who fan so hard that they share my oddly specific knowledge of [insert obsession of choice here].

While I’m usually completely content with my own company (I’m never really alone; I have the voices), sometimes it’s fun to make obscure references I don’t have to explain; and it’s always nice not to feel like a raving lunatic when conversation turns to [again, insert obsession of choice here]; and, frankly, not all of my nearest and dearest share my zeal for Harry Potter (hard to believe, I know), but that’s just the way of it… Okay, my whole family loves Harry Potter (the books, not the movies) so that was a bad example; however, if you’ve ever been with a group of people who didn’t get it when you asked if they thought Trump’s hair was a horcrux, then you know what I’m talking about. You need to be around your people every once in a while.

My new marketing guru, Jennie Marts, talks about finding your tribe. I’ve never had a tribe. Partners in crime, sure, but never a tribe. I suppose that’s what RUDC is for me: the tribe I never knew I wanted.